History Glasses

I have spent much time in the typical Evangelical church. Through the years I have experienced many approaches to reading the Bible. These approaches may be formal or informal. A formal approach would be an "inductive method" where an observation is made of the passage in its context. An informal approach may be to ask "What is this passage saying to you?" or "God just gave this to me as I was reading this verse." No matter the approach it is important to think about where it may stem from.

Another oddity of my journey through typical Evangelicalism was a suspicion of history, especially Church History. Because of our present seminary patterns many pastors have a basic if not poor understanding of Church History. Most are completely ignorant of the Early Church Fathers.

This is important because the way we read the Bible is directly impacted by our understanding and approach to church history. In other words, the more ignorant the individual is of the Early Church then the more likely they are going to take an individual approach to reading the Bible. This is dangerous for people that are trying to learn how to read the Bible. In fact, we have a huge portion of the church today that is flatly confused about how to read the Bible. Where did we lose this ability? Perhaps when we lost our connection to our history.

The Early Fathers (and every subsequent Christian leader) can guide us toward a proper or Orthodox reading of Scripture. It is fair and right for us to ask how others throughout history have read this passage. It is also fair and right to limit our reading to the confines that have been set for us. This does not mean that every Church Father has been right. But it also does not mean that we should feel justified in ignoring the witness of the Spirit in the lives of others.

This way of reading the Bible is a bit more difficult. Although, you will at least know that you will not need to be corrected down the road as often. This approach takes a little research and reading in other areas. Picking up a good translation of the Early Church Fathers or visiting the Christian Classics Ethereal Library will give you a fast start to reading Scripture among the "Great Cloud of Witnesses". You can begin to build a collection of commentaries from your local bookstore or online.

There will always be those that prefer the easier road. Our legacy has been to take the Scriptures seriously. Do not be easily swayed by those that prefer the path of least resistance. Allow those that have given their lives over for their great love of Christ to speak to you. Let those whose whole lives have proven their seriousness for the Word of God guide you.

Beware of those that point you consistently to the "simple".

Oversimplification is the surest sign of ignorance.